James L. Weatherly and Jacqueline B. Dixon, partners at Nashville’s Weatherly & Dixon PLLC, have merged their law firm with Lewis Thomason PC. Weatherly, who was elected public defender for Metro Nashville-Davidson County from 1982-86, practiced more than 20 years with the firm of Hollins, Wagster & Yarbrough. His practice now includes criminal defense, family law, personal injury and general civil litigation. Dixon, a past president of the Tennessee Bar Association, has more than 35 years of experience in the areas of family law, wills, estates, probate, personal injury and other types of civil litigation as well as appellate work. She is also a family law mediator. Read the full release from Lewis Thomason.

All five executions scheduled for this year have been paused by Gov. Bill Lee as the state awaits a third-party review of lethal injection protocols in Tennessee, WPLN reports. Lee stopped the execution of Oscar Smith on April 21 after discovering the lethal injection medication hadn’t gone through all the quality tests that are required. That incident prompted Lee to order an independent review of that case and of the policy manual used in executions and relevant staffing issues at the Department of Corrections. Former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee and Butler Snow attorney Edward Stanton III has been tapped to conduct the review. “The death penalty is an extremely serious matter,” Lee said. “I expect the Tennessee Department of Correction to leave no question that procedures are correctly followed.”

The TBA Immigration Law Section will host an Immigration Law Basics program on May 23 from 9 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. CDT. Attendees will receive helpful tips on immigration court practice and explore the basics of family, naturalization and U visa practice with regional experts. The program will also feature a session on business and entertainment aspects of immigration law in Tennessee. Earn up to two general and one dual CLE hours. Learn more and register here.

A new program from Bass, Berry & Sims, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors and the Vanderbilt Immigration Practice Clinic will address how lawyers can help newly arriving refugee populations who are resettling in Nashville. “Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti: Refugees in Crisis & How Lawyers Can Help” will take place in-person and virtually on May 23 from noon until 1 p.m. CDT. The presentation will provide an overview of at-risk populations and the basics of immigration and asylum law needed to take on a case with no prior immigration or asylum experience required. At the end of training, options will be provided to match with a family or individual who has been screened for asylum eligibility and is waiting for representation. Register for this free event by May 21.

New data from the American Bar Association shows that, of Belmont University College of Law’s 2019 graduating class, 100% of those who took the bar exam sometime within the last two years have passed. The law school is one of only two schools in the country with a 100% bar passage rate over the last two years among 2019 graduates and the only school in the country to have 100% bar passage for both its 2018 and 2019 graduates within two years of graduation. The national average ultimate pass rate was 91 percent. ABA Standards require that at least 75% of a law school’s graduates in a calendar year who sit somewhere for a bar examination administered within two years of graduation must pass. Belmont has more on the story.

The Tennessee General Assembly has passed legislation that prevents candidates who have been censured from becoming judges, The Greeneville Sun reports.  An amendment to Senate Bill 2478/House Bill 2538 bars attorneys who have been publicly censured by the Board of Professional Responsibility within 10 years from holding a judgeship. The bill has an Oct. 1 effective date, meaning it will not affect current races. Rep. Andy Farmer, R-Sevierville, said the bill was the first step in ensuring honesty in candidates for all positions.

A new report from Disability Rights Tennessee and the Youth Law Center claims the Wilder Youth Development Center in Somerville is being run like a “dangerous jail,” in violation of state and federal laws, the Associated Press reports. The report says Wilder has a dearth of rehabilitative and educational services, a disproportionately high number of Black youths and young people with disabilities confined there and a reliance on solitary confinement. It also says the facility has a “pattern and practice of abuse perpetrated by staff at Wilder, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and staff orchestrating attacks on youth.” A spokesperson with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services said a full review of the report would be conducted, but expressed confidence that community partners, lawmakers and staff could “work towards a resolution to any concern that may exist.” Read the report here.

Brandon Toney, a Germantown intensive care nurse practitioner, has been removed from the ballot in the Republican primary for State Senate District 31, the Commercial Appeal reports. Members of the Tennessee Republican Party voted against restoring Toney to the ballot after his Republican “bona fides” were challenged. The party’s bylaws state that a person must vote in three of the past four Republican primaries to be considered a bona fide Republican. In a letter to party members, Toney acknowledged that he had not voted in the primaries in question, but that he was “clearly a Republican with a demonstrated record of supporting Republican candidates and committees.” He was set to face Brent Taylor in the August primary to fill the seat of outgoing state Sen. Brian Kelsey who is not running for reelection following his indictment on allegations of illegally redirecting campaign finance dollars.

Metro Council Member Freddie O’Connell yesterday confirmed that he will run for Nashville mayor in 2023, the Tennessean reports. O’Connell serves Nashville’s District 19, the city's most populous and fastest-growing district. Since being elected to Metro Council in 2015, O’Connell pushed for improved and increased transit and  infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians as well as services aiming to house Nashvillians experiencing homelessness. He said his decision to enter the mayoral race stems in part from a desire for clearer policies and more decisive actions surrounding Nashville's response to homelessness and increasing transit needs as the city grows.

The state attorney general last week asked a Davidson County court to compel Cade Cothren, former top aide to Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, to explain why he refused to obey subpoenas issued in a campaign finance probe earlier this year, the Tennessean reports. Cothren, who left state politics amid a racist and misogynistic texting scandal, was issued two subpoenas during an investigation into the Faith Family Freedom Fund political action committee. Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood, called the subpoenas an "abuse of process" and said Cothren would invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Attorney General Herbert Slatery in last week’s court filing argued Cothren had broadly misused that privilege and could not use it as “a blanket shield from testifying or producing requested documents."